Individual towel cabinet



Aug. 30; 1932. E. 'r. 'HAILS INDIVIDUAL TOWEL CABINET Filed Jan'. 25, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l M m v M J j 2 i V V/ m GL WWW; 9 8 0 w i :5; g w 1. my I, W 6 A 4/\T h [440, 0,0 w L m J H J z Aug. 30, 1932. E. T. HAILS v INDIVIDUAL TOWEL CABINET 2 Shets-Shee Filed Jan. 25, 1928 29 BOT ||||l lllllllll II Patented Aug. 30, 1932 PATENT OFFICE EDWARD TROYIIAIL'S, 0F MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA INDIVIDUAL TOWEL CABINET Application filed January 25 1928. Serial no. 249,252.

This invention relates to an improvement in individual towel cabinets in which it"is contemplated that a plurality of individual towels are suitably assembled and folded so that they will present free ends to enable them to be pulled out successively into position for use. i V

' My invention contemplates the provision of a cabinet adapted to enclose a plurality of a assembled towels which may'gene-rally be re-'- ferred to as a towel pack, and it has access means by which the uppermost or foremost towel of the pack can be reached bythe user and drawn out of the cabinet. V

It is a distinctive feature of myinvention that the pack of "towels 'shallbe so arranged with relation to the saidaccess means that when a used towel is released it will be adapt ed, when drawn back intothe cabinet, to hang as below the clean towels of the pack and out of position that will interfere with'access to the remaining clean towels of the pack. It is also contemplated that thesoiled towels as they hang in the cabinet will be concealed; My invention also contemplates'the em ployment of an automatiomeans preferably a gravitating element such as a door which is operable to give access to the towels in the cabinet as a means for effecting the retraction of the soiled towel into concealed position in the soiled towel portion ofthe cabinet.

Preferably the access opening .in' the. cabinet I is closed by a vertical. sliding door which, when released, gives access to-the clean towels' of the pack and which, as itdrops, will engage the soiled towel, and thelatter having been released by the user will retract it into the cabinet.

Another distinctive feature of my invention has relation to the cabinet itself which is adapted to receive the towel pack. This cabinet acts on a different principle from any with which I am familiar in that the slide or door, which must be opened or displaced to give accessto the towel pack, must itself be supported by the pull on the fresh towel while same is in use, the doorbeing' adapted, as soon as the used towel'is released, to fall by gravity and displace'such towel,

leaving the'next clean towel accessiblein the the towel pack and pack when the door is again opened. I- claim broadlythe combinationwith associated individual towels, of automatic means to dis place the, used towels successively into the appropriate storage space therefor in the cabis inet, thermeans being set ready to operate, responsiveto any stepincidentalto the with drawal of a fresh towel and held so set until the towel has been used and released, when the means is free to act and will automatis *00 cally displace such last-used towel;

Another distinctive feature of my invention'lies in the fact that this slide is suitable for-very effective advertising display in that 1 its normally concealed portions, which be- I come exposed when it is raised to give access" to the towels and when itissupported by the; towel in use, can both present any de sired display and they will do sounder conditions that will make itparticularly im; 70 pressiveto the user. It is contemplated that thecabinet can be variouslymodified, ac-

cording to the conditions of service and character of use contemplated, and can be readily adapted to house any suplemental equipment 7 that maybe needed in connection with the towel cabinet, but as my invention is more particularly concerned with the matter of han'dlingthe towels I shallnot show the cab- V inet with any accessories. My invention also comprises novel features of'construction in the-manner of assembling the towels in a pack andin clamping them between clamp plates removably mounted in the cabinet, and for the utilization of the clamp plates tosupport the clean'towels always so as to present the foremosttowel in a'predetermined position with relation to the access means. 7

7 My invention furthercomprises the novel 1 details of construction and arrangements of parts, which in their preferred embodiments only are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and in which Fig. I is a front view of the cabinet in closed position. 7 r x Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the cabinet with the sliding door fully raised to expose present the upper advertising display.

2 presented.

Fig. 4 is a fragmental view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, showing the'fresh towel drawn out before the sliding door is lowered into position to rest on, and be supported by it.

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the towel pack in its mounting clamp.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating 7 I passed length wise under the back plate 31 and then up through guide 34' formed in the the pull mechanism for lifting the sliding door. 7

Fig. 7 isa detail perspective view ofthe back clamp 'membeL' Similarreference numerals referto similar parts throughoutthe drawings. In the embodiment of my invention illustrated, I show merely in formal manner a cabinet comprising a bottom 7 and a front wall Shaving a transverse intermediate opening 9 and aboveit a mirror 10. -The cabinet comprises end walls 11 and 12., a top wall 13 and a hinged back wall 14. The side walls 10 and 11 adjacent to the front wall 8 are provided withvertical slots 15 extending from the top Wall well below the opening 9 V 39 and forming'ali'gning guides for a sliding door 16, which is provided in its lowerportion'witha demountable advertising panel 17 and at its center with a pin 18' connected by a suitable pull'cord or cable-19, running over'pulleys 20 and 21, to a knob 22 slidable in a slot 23 in the endwa-ll 11. This is typical of any convenient and inexpensive means for raising the door in its guides 15 to clear the front opening 9. Theupper end of the door when'raised is adapted to engage a top panel 24 carrying a dependent advertising slide 25, this panel 24 being normally seated flushin a transverse opening (see Fi 4) in the top 13. Fig. 4 shows this pane raised so as toflexpose .to view an advertisingdisplay on the slide indicated within the border, lines 27 in Fig. 2. This slide is long enough to overlap the top of the door in thelatchs lowered ,position as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3, and this slide is also received in the upper partof the door guides 15. As will be seen. by Fig. 4, when the knob is fully depressed, the door is raised to expose the opening 9 and thus access is had to the interior of the cabinet for thepurpose of withdrawing therefrom a fresh towel.

While the advantages of my invention are applicable to various waysof assembling and presenting the clean towels sothat they can be successively used, I consider the arrange ment which will now be described as that best suited for'use with my improved type of cabinet. 1 1

I show the individual towels a-s f mieiby the desired number of layers oftowelling,

posed and then folded about each other at their center and stitched together across their width at 29, thereby producing a closed bight to form the loop for the towel rod 30. Each 7 individual towel as thus formed by a free end of a layer 28 is then folded one time upon itself and the folded towels are interposed in a clamp comprising a back plate 31 and a front plate 32. A pair of elastic bands 33 are ends of said plate. The free ends of the straps are connected to cross bars 35 notched'at 36, and. the bands are adapted to be received in notchouts 8'? cut in the ends of the front plate 32,.the cross members 35 being adapted to be engaged-over button-head stop pins-"38 on the top clamp plate 32; The front edge of the plate82is cutaway at 39 to give a better opportunity to grip the free end of the upper- IDOSttOWGl in the clamp, and the back plate front plate ,32.

Each clampplate and32 at the centerof 7 its ends is provided with a mounting pin 41, thesep nsbeing adaptedv to be received in guide slots 42formed' in the end walls 11 and 12,th ese slots being downturned at their for ward ends so as to hold the clamp in mounted position when. its front plate '32 engages the stoppin 43 and is then engaged by thev spring-pressed dog 44,. which presses this plate againstthe stop 43 and holds its pins 41 in the downturnedends of the slots 42.

A towel rod 30 is slippedthrough the :bight' in the; towel pack and the ends of this rod are free to slide'through guide slots 45 therefor in the end walls 11 and l2. The slots 42 45 rise from the rear towards'the front of the cabinet and when the last towel has been drawn from therpack and used, the pack is supported only bythe towel rod 30 which is free to rundownthe slots 45 and to be discharged'as'soon as the cabinet is opened.

'Itwill be notedthat the towel rod, when in if 7 operating position (see Fig. 3),standsnear the bottom level of the opening 9 and that the towel pack is inclinedforwardly and downwardly so that the uppermost towel will al-. ways have its free end exposed approximately in line with the center of the opening 9, thus making it equally convenient to pull out the first as the last toweL- The rod resists the outused.

'ward pull on the towels as they are being 'Intheoperationiof the cabinet, assuming thepartsin the position shown inFig. l,

the user, grasps theiknob 22, depresses it to the bottom: of the slot 23' andthereby raises the door 16: to= the posi-tion shown in' Fig. 4t, fully exposing the towel pack to view through the opening 9, and at the same time present,-

ing. the advertising display 27, (-see Fi 21);.

While holdingtheknob down with one hand the user-grasps the free end of the uppermost towel opposite the cut away portion 39" and drawsthe towel out by pulling it out from under thesmooth clamp plate32. The towel,

when pulled out, assumes the positioir shown poses the advertising panel 17 opposite the opening 9 where it willbest attract the attention of one using thetowel." As soon: asthe towel has been used: and; its' free end is re leased, the weight of the door will carry it down to-its dotted position shown in Fig. 3, thus automatically displacing the soiled towels into any'suitable space provided'therefor in the lower portion. ofthecabinet; This operationis repeated until all of. the towels are used. When the door drops it conceals both. advertising displays and closes the opening 9, leaving exposed directions for use of the cabinet which are printed on the door and which will then be visible through the opening 9.. It is contemplated that the cabinet'willbe mounted by attaching its back wall 14 to the wall or other support and that the cabinet is free to swing outwardly on the hinges 46 to a position at right angles to the wall or support, when it is desired to recharge it with towels. When the cabinet is thus opened, as has been explained, the soiled towels will be suspended from the towel rod and the latter will be ready to be slipped out of the inclined slots 45. Thereupon, the towel rod is removed from the soiled towel pack and inserted in the bight of a clean towel pack and this towel pack is then mounted in the manner described and held in position by the latch 44, whereupon the cabinet is swung back against the back wall and latched and is then ready for use. The importance of the frictional cover for the back clamp plate 31 will be apparent when it is considered that only the uppermost towel should be drawn out and without a proper fric ional means on the back plate 31 to grip the towel pack one or more towels at a time or all of the pack might be pulled out from the clamp. In laundering, all of the towels of a pack are laundered at one time and can be readily folded into the packs and mounted between the clamps. Due to the pressure exerted on the folded towels from the clamp it is not necessary to iron the towels as they will appear fiat and smooth as they are drawn out of the clamp. The towel packs as mounted in their clamps at the laundry, can be very conveniently rendered sanitary by wwrappings and delivered in-this manner to the'customerh Whilein the apparatus shown, no meansto control the manipulation of the door 'operating knob 22is shown, it is contemplated that its operation, where such is desired,.may be controlled by any standard coin operated mechanism, thus requiring the user to pay a small charge before he can open the cabi" net.

Though I have described with great particularity the details of the embodiment of the invention herein shown, it is not to be construed that I am limited thereto, as changes in: the arrangement of parts and substitution of equivalents may be made by those skilled in the 'artwithout departing from the invention as defined in the-appended claims.

Having'thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: H

1-. An individual towel cabinet, comprising means to mount'a pack. of individual towels V ina cabinet, there being an opening in the cabinet whereby a clean towel maybe grasped by a user and drawn out of the cabinet, said cabinet having a space above said opening-to receive the clean towelsand a space below said opening toreceive the used towels, and means automatlcally responsive to the releaseofa used towel from the grasp of the user to re tractsuch towel into the soiled towel portio of the cabinet. i 4

2. A towel cabinet, having' an-opening for access to the towels, a plurality ofindividual towels secured at one end in the cabinet, said cabinet having a space above said opening to receive the clean towels and a spacebelow said opening to receive the used towels, and gravitingmeans, automaticallyresponsive to the release of atowel after its feee end has been drawn out through said opening, todis place such used towel portion from position between the clean towels and said opening and into concealment in the soiled towel space of the cabinet.

3. In combination with a towel cabinet having a front opening, a pack of individual towels superimposed-in' folded position and bound together, clamp plates which receive between them the folded towels and expose-the lower end of the foremosttowel to be grasped receive and substantially cover the folded towels betweenthem.

f 5. A towel pack of the character described, comprising a plurality of superimposed towels secured together at their centers and individually folded, a binder for the towels removable therewith from the cabinet formed by plates adapted to clamp the folded towels between them, a hanger means demountable from the cabinet and adapted to engage the several individual towels, and means to engage said clamp plates to support the clean towels above said hanger means.

' to be drawn out'sucessively through said opening for use, means to raise and open the door, the'door being adapted to be supported by a towel while inuse and to automatically displace the used towel into the lower portion 7 of the cabinet when the towel is released.

' 8. A towel cabinetaccord ing to claim 7, in which the towel pack comprises clamp plates having end projections, the walls of the cabinet being recessed to receive'the said projections, releasable means to mount the clamp plates in the cabinet, and the'towel pack comprising'a towel rod loop, a towel rod demountable from the loop, and a slot'in the cabinet in which the towel rod is removably mounted.

. 9. In a towel cabinet, means to mount a pack of towels therein in position for the used towels thereof to hang below the pack in substantially concealed position, there-being an opening in'the cabinet giving access to the cleaned towels of thepack'to permit the foremost to be drawn downwardly and outfor use, and automatic means to cause'a used towel upon its release to assume position hanging along with other used towels of the p ack.- I r 10. Ina towel cabinet, means to mount a pack of towels therein so thatthe used towels will hang below the clean towels of the pack inconcealed position in the cabinet, there being an opening in the cabinet to permit the foremost clean towel of a pack to be withdrawn for use, and means responsive to gravity to cause aused towel to re-enter and hang concealed within the cabinet.

11. In an individual towel cabinet, a casing. having an intermediate opening tolgive access for drawing out a towel for use, means to mount a pack of towels ln'thecaslng above the opening in positionto be pulled down as they are drawn out, and automatic means to retract and release a usedtowel to assume a concealed position in the cabinet out of the path of the clean towels of its respective pack,

12. A cabinet comprising means to mount a plurality of individual towels therein,

means operative to give access to the foremost clean towels to retract same after use into the soiled towel portion of the cabinet, the mounting means holding the clean towels above and the soiled towels below said access means.

13. A towel cabinet having an opening affording access to towels therein, means to mount a plurality of individual towels in the cabinet'opposite said opening, said means comprising a front stationary element mounted infixed relation to said opening, a movable element, and means causing the latter element to press clean towels against: the said front element, a stationary hanger below said eleinents to which'the towelsareattached and" from which they are adapted to hang after use concealed below said opemng iand auto-j.

matic means to cause the used towels to reenter and hang concealed in the cabinet. 1

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

EDWARD TROY HAILS.

removable with each. individual pack and iio 

